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OUR LIFEGUARD

The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. [Psalm 121:5-8 (NLT)]

See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. [Isaiah 49:16a (NLT)]

As I stood by the community pool, taking photos of the grands, I noticed that I wasn’t the only person keeping watch. Two lifeguards kept their eyes on the pool full of people. These young women probably go all summer without having to rescue someone and their main purpose is to keep rowdy children (and adults) in line. Still, it is a tremendous responsibility for a couple of teenagers. As attentive as they were to the swimmers, I wasn’t about to trust either one of them with the safety of my loved ones and my eyes remained on the little guys.

To the lifeguards, keeping watch over the swimmers is a just a job and my two grands were merely two of many children. They were just the little girl in the turquoise suit and the dark-haired toddler with the red noodle wrapped around his waist. To me, however, they have names and personalities. They are my children (one generation removed), cherished and loved. While their names aren’t written on my hand, they are in my heart! I know we live in a troubled and sin-filled world and that I can’t protect them from all harm but, loving them as I do, I’m not about to let anything bad happen to them on my watch!

Of course, the only one who truly guards my grands (or even me, for that matter) is God. Guarding us, however, is not just a job for Him as it is for those lifeguards. Because we are His children, He watches over us out of love, not duty. His love for us is greater than that of a mother for her child (or a grandma for her grands) and He will guard us with a ferocity that would put a mama bear to shame. To God, we’re not the concerned grandma at the pool, the bearded old man with a walker, the surfer dude in yellow board shorts, or the bratty little kid in the green shirt—we’re Julie, John, Brent, and Avery, His beloved children.

A fellow at church often wears a shirt with the message, “My lifeguard walks on water!” Indeed, He does.

What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. [Luke 12:6-7 (NLT)]